Dried anchovies
Small whole anchovies, boiled and dried; salty and intensely briny, the base of many Korean stocks and crisp side dishes.
Dried anchovies are small whole fish that are briefly boiled after the catch and then dried; they have little in common with anchovy fillets packed in oil. They are sorted by size: the large, finger-length ones are simmered for stock, usually with the head and dark gut removed because these can make the broth bitter. The small ones, only a few centimetres long, are eaten whole, for instance pan-toasted and glazed, and stay crisp. The flavour is salty, deep and savoury, without the sharp fishiness of salt-cured anchovies. They are sold in Asian grocery shops, often in the chilled or frozen section, and by mail order; kept in the freezer they last for months.
Substitute:
For stock, bonito flakes or Japanese dashi powder will do, though the result is smokier and more delicate, less robust; a splash of fish sauce in water is a stopgap that gives salt but little depth. For dishes in which the small anchovies are eaten whole there is no workable substitute, because the point is their bite and crunch; jarred anchovy fillets are too soft and too salty.